This year, Transuniverse Forwarding celebrates its 40th anniversary. This jubilee did not escape the chember of commerce Voka Oost-Vlaanderen, which honoured our company during its annual event.

According to annual tradition, Voka Oost-Vlaanderen organised its annual celebration at Vooruit in Ghent on 25 May. After an inspiring keynote by film director Lukas Dhont on ‘Close’, several companies from East Flanders celebrating their jubilees were honoured. For Transuniverse, Olivia Adins, daughter of founder Frank Adins and member of the Management Committee, received the flowers.

Frank Adins started his company from a small flat in 1983 with project cargo to the Middle East, but soon the focus shifted to groupage and freight forwarding. Transuniverse grew into a groupage specialist covering all of Europe, the Maghreb, Turkey and the Middle East. Today, we record a consolidated annual turnover of 87 million euros with over 200 employees.

Mark Tuesday 27 June in your agenda. Transuniverse will then organise an information session to which you are cordially invited. The chosen topics are both interesting and topical: CMR, cargo insurance and automation.

This is the programme:

16h00: Welcome

Meet the team.

16h30: First aid for obstacles during transport

Gaétan Bascourt, Senior Client Advisor at insurance broker and risk manager Marsh Benelux explains the broad outlines of the CMR legislation and emphasises the associated claims handling. He is a specialist in cargo insurance, liability of transport operators and liability in chartering. He also teaches road transport at Portilog, Randstad and Logos.

17h00: Transuniverse commits to automation

Griet Gyselinck and Koen Zanders, respectively Sales Director and Business Analyst at Transuniverse Forwarding, will take you into the world of process automation and optimisation.  Transuniverse is heavily committed to automation not only to make operations more efficient, but also to improve communication with its customers. They will explain how you can now very simply obtain an up-to-date status of your order.

17h30: Reception

You will have ample time to get more information from the speakers and to network with the other guests. Of course this will be accompanied by a snack and drink.

This free info session will take place at the headquarters of Transuniverse Forwarding (Industrieweg 118, 9032 Wondelgem). Ready to participate? Then register via this link. 

See you then!

For four days in May, Munich was the epicentre of the logistics world. This year’s ‘transport logistic’ trade fair was a record edition and received more positive feedback than ever. We can agree: Transuniverse Forwarding was present with a whole team to meet customers and partners, and to engage in international networking.

From 9 to 12 May 2023, 2,320 exhibitors from 67 countries took part in this international trade fair for transport, logistics, IT and supply chain management. It welcomed more than 75,000 visitors from 120 countries. For the first time, international visitors were in the majority in Munich. The number of exhibitors from outside Germany also grew enormously: this year there were 1,390 of them (60% of the total). The top ten countries with the most exhibitors (after Germany) were the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, France, Austria, China, Turkey, Spain, Poland and the UK.

Transuniverse participated in the fair again this year, via a booth at North Sea Port’s stand, after an initial successful participation in 2019 (in 2021, the fair did not go ahead due to the Covid crisis). “Local trade fairs such as Transport & Logistics in Antwerp and Ghent are places to strengthen ties with local customers and get to know potential customers. The trade fair in Munich has a different approach: it is the place ‘par excellence’ to network internationally and lay the foundations of possible collaborations,” says Sales Manager Dennis Snoeck. That is why as many as nine Transuniverse employees relayed each other every two days.

“At a trade fair like the one in Munich, you can better observe and ‘feel’ the international market.  By participating, you also show your ambitions. Commercial contacts with German customers can be perpetuated during a visit to our stand, but new contacts are also often made at a potential partner’s stand or even, by coincidence, in the hallways. In short: it is a matter of ‘seeing and being seen’,” Dennis adds.

For a number of customers, Transuniverse ensures the interim storage and picking of goods that are pushed into the groupage network on demand. These activities take place in a building next to the cross-dock platform at our Wondelgem site. Soon, Hamza Daoudi will take full charge of supervising logistics.

Hamza (35) has been working at Transuniverse for two years. “After my studies in communications, I went to work for Mobistar (now Orange) as a dossier manager, but fairly soon afterwards I opted for another job, which I swapped for yet another… and a few more. Youthful impetuosity, so to speak. Among other things, I worked as a marketeer, a financial planner, in sales and as a stock manager. In that last job, at Coca Cola, working in a very structured way appealed to me. That was my first contact with logistics and transport and I learned a lot. That’s how the logistics virus got hold of me. When I got the opportunity to work at Transuniverse in the cross-dock centre, I enthusiastically made the switch,” he says.

“In December 2022, I got the offer to become a Logistics Supervisor. First, I was given responsibility for the logistics of a customer specialising in floor coverings. At the end of June, I will also take over the other clients that until now were looked after by Filip Janssens, as he will have other responsibilities within Transuniverse,” Hamza explains.

Several customers prefer to entrust not only their transports to Transuniverse, but also their stock management. Some 10 collaborators take in the goods on pallets and store them in racks. On demand, they pick, label and prepare them for transport. “For this, we have a total of 10,000m² of warehouse space, good for 6,000 to 10,000 pallet locations (depending on the size), exclusively for the logistics of some eight customers,” he adds.

Additional pallet locations

“The combination of storage and transport appeals to more and more companies. Therefore, we have reorganised operations to free up around 250 pallet spaces in the racks. Another 750 m² will soon become available – good for 600 to 800 pallet spaces – when a temporary customer leaves. We can therefore be responsive and service new customers at fairly short notice,” says Hamza.

Further automation

Just as in Transuniverse’s other operations, those in warehousing are already highly automated. “At intake, all pallets are labelled. Every movement of goods is registered with a handheld scanner, which communicates with the WMS (Warehouse Management System). Soon, we will go a step further and commission a new scanning system that more accurately determines the location of goods in the warehouse. This will allow the pickers to work more efficiently and purposefully, and also improve traceability. Communication with the administration will then also be further automated. That, too, will enable new efficiency gains,” Hamza points out.

Transuniverse Forwarding has made a partner switch in Spain. Since the beginning of May we work together with Salvat Logistica, headquartered near Barcelona. This company manages considerable export flows to Belgium and has a finely-meshed national network. This allows us to significantly increase the frequency of departures and decrease the lead times. Spain is one of the most important destinations for Transuniverse. With this swap, we can further expand our strong market position.

The partner switch in Spain was prompted by several factors, the most important of which was the desire to increase departure frequency to that country. “We had been working for years with a strong partner in Barcelona serving the larger economic centres in Spain and with three other smaller partners for the more remote regions. While in recent years our exports to Spain were growing steadily, the exports to Belgium generated by these partners were not growing along. That growing imbalance made it increasingly difficult to organise enough ’round trips’ to maintain the frequency of departures from Belgium,” says Jo Vormezeele, Operations Director at Transuniverse.

“The fact that we served the whole of Spain with four different partners also had an impact on lead times. In groupage, shorter delivery times play an increasingly important role,” says Alexander Bekaert, Traffic Operations Manager. “So we came to the realisation that we could serve Spain more efficiently with one partner covering the whole territory and generating sufficient export volumes to Belgium.”

Salvat Logistica

Salvat Logistica is a major player in the Spanish market, with its own national and international transport services (groupage and full loads), logistics solutions and – through its subsidiary CBL Logistica – a finely meshed distribution network that covers the whole of Spain. The leading company, founded more than 50 years ago by José Salvat Soler, is still in family hands.

“In the countries where we have large volumes and deploy shuttle services, Salvat relies on local agents. After a change of direction at our former partner in Belgium, we wanted to set up a new partnership. Transuniverse and Salvat Logistica found each other and it soon became clear that a partnership would strengthen both companies in groupage traffic between Spain and Belgium and vice versa. What certainly also played a role is that we are both family owned companies. We did not wish to partner with a multinational group,” says Miguel Monterde, Traffic Manager at Salvat Logistica.

Daily frequency

“Salvat Logistica and Transuniverse complement each other well as both manage significant export volumes to Belgium and Spain respectively. This balance allows for a daily shuttle service between Ghent and Barcelona, whereas previously we could only offer two departures per week. Moreover, for its shuttles between both hubs, Salvat works with three drivers who relay each other, so that the trucks reach their destination after only 20 hours of driving. This allows us – also thanks to the finely meshed national distribution network in Spain – to significantly improve lead times,” says Jo Vormezeele.

“In addition, the greater balance in export volumes also makes it possible to organise almost daily shuttles between Valencia and Madrid on the one hand and Ghent on the other. This cooperation is thus a tool for both companies to further grow traffics,” adds Miguel Monterde.

Improved Track & Trace

“An additional advantage is that Salvat has state-of-the-art IT systems. Since we can rely on one partner for both the international transport and the national distribution, we therefore expect our track & trace services to improve significantly,” concludes Jo Vormezeele.

Transuniverse handles the daily import and export of its customers’ goods. In many cases, this involves customs formalities. Our AEO-certified customs service ensures smooth and, above all, correct handling. The team is managed by Michel De Lattre.

Originally, Michel made a career for himself in the customs department of a major air freight forwarder. In 2014, he was recruited by Transuniverse to shape a new department: Customs. “Before, customs formalities were taken care of by the planning department. Entrusting them to a specialised unit allowed the planners to better focus on their core tasks. More expertise could also be brought together. Indeed, customs activities involve more and more specific knowledge, if only because legislation is constantly evolving,” he explains.

His team consists of six specialists of different nationalities in Wondelgem and four employees in Romania, who are in charge of preparing the formalities.

Specific knowledge

“The legislation is changing rapidly, not only in terms of taxation but also, for example, in terms of supervision of the requirements to be met by imported and exported products. For example, you must strictly follow EU directives regarding the so-called CE rules that products must comply with. After all, they are very important for health and safety,” says Michel.

Export

That specific knowledge is especially important on the export side. “The rules are different in – say – Morocco, Turkey, the UK and Switzerland. VAT regimes and financial aspects are also different each time. In principle, the exporter and the local importer must ensure that local laws and regulations are respected. But in some cases, they call on our team to check whether everything is correct from a customs point of view. And sometimes we provide them with support in finding out the correct import duties in a country. In Switzerland, for example, these can be avoided in some cases because the EU has a free trade agreement with that country,” he adds.

Import

On the import side, Brexit and the associated customs formalities have presented quite a challenge for his team. “Not only has it meant a lot of extra work but there’s also more time pressure. If you import goods from Turkey, you have a fairly long transit time usually of seven days. So you have eight days to prepare everything. Imports from the UK are different: the distance, and hence the transit time, is very short. So you have much less time to get everything ready on time,” Michel explains.

Digitalisation

This is one of the reasons why digitalisation is of great importance. “Customs documents are stored digitally by us and forwarded to local agents and/or consignees. But more importantly, this digitalisation allows planning to do its job better: we work closely together to check whether all the formalities have been completed and therefore whether or not a shipment is allowed to leave or be delivered. So we check whether the documents have been fully completed and if any information is missing we will notify the customer. Thanks to our high-performance IT system, customers not only enjoy faster handling but also avoid errors that could interrupt the logistics flow,” Michel adds.

Finally, he points to the good communication with the customs administration: “It facilitates the handling of files and any checks, meaning that less time is wasted and a smoother flow can be guaranteed.”

The British government announced on 14 November that it will recognise the CE marking of products until 31 December 2024. Companies will therefore have an extra two years to apply the new UKCA safety marking. Postponement does not mean cancellation: those exporting to the UK best bear it in mind anyway.

It was originally planned that CE marking would no longer be accepted in Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) for products marketed there from 1 January 2023. That deadline now moves to 1 January 2025.

According to Business Secretary Grant Shapps, this postponement is designed to give companies a chance to focus on growth, not regulations. Given the difficult economic conditions, the UK government does not want to burden business with the requirement to meet the original deadline.

What is the UKCA marking?

The UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) marking was introduced in January 2021 as part of the UK’s own regulatory framework. This certificate shows that products comply with their own product safety regulations and is designed to protect consumers. The British label applies to a whole range of products marketed in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland but not Northern Ireland).

CE marking can therefore still be used until 31 December 2024 (possibly alongside a UKCA marking) for products exported to the UK. After this date, only the UKCA marking will apply and only products with the UK marking may be sold in the UK.

Is the UKCA marking needed in Northern Ireland?

No. Special rules apply in Northern Ireland: EU conformity markings are still used there. For most goods, this is the CE marking. However, products brought to the British market from Northern Ireland must also bear a UKNI mark.

Which products are covered by the UKCA marking?

Most products covered by CE marking rules must comply with UKCA rules. A full list of these products can be found here.

Some products covered by the UKCA marking are subject to additional special rules. These include medical devices, construction products and hazardous substances.

More information on the UKCA marking, Northern Ireland rules and the products concerned can be found on the UK government website.